JP7037249B2 - Autonomous vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner.

The autonomous vacuum cleaner is equipped with a rechargeable battery as a power source, scrapes dust with a rotating brush, sucks it with a suction fan for cleaning, and drives two drive wheels with a control device. A means for cleaning corners of obstacles extending in two directions, for example, corners formed by two intersecting walls, has been proposed by controlling an individual traveling motor to easily leave uncleaned parts. In the present specification, obstacles and walls forming such corners are collectively referred to as "walls".

Patent Document 1 states, "When the housing advances along the first wall of the room and reaches the corner formed by the first wall and the second wall, the progress is temporarily stopped, and a plurality of housings are provided. After making a round trip and reciprocating, it resumes its progress along the second wall. "

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-153550

Patent Document 1 stops the housing and reciprocates when it reaches a corner so that the tip of the side brush reaches the corner. It is considered that braking control is necessary at the time of stopping, but since the braking distance differs depending on the speed immediately before that and the material of the floor, the vehicle may turn in a state of being too far from or too close to the second wall. If it is too far away, the side brush will not reach the corner even if it turns back and forth. If it is too close, the brush of the side brush will bend in contact with the second wall, and it will not be possible to effectively scrape out the dust in the corners.

Therefore, the present invention provides an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner capable of more reliably cleaning a corner and a corner vicinity by easy control.

The present invention made in view of the above circumstances is
Left drive wheel and
Right drive wheel and
A side brush located in front of the left drive wheel and the right drive wheel,
A left-handed motor that rotates the left drive wheel and
A right-handed motor that rotates the right drive wheel and
It is an autonomous vacuum cleaner equipped with an obstacle detection sensor.
When it recognizes the corner formed by the first wall and the second wall, it swings left and right and performs a squeezing motion toward the corner.
After the squeezing motion, the motion of squeezing away from the recognized corner is executed .

According to the present invention, it is possible to more preferably clean the vicinity of the corner and the corner.

The perspective view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Embodiment 1 as seen from the left front. The bottom view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Embodiment 1. FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. The perspective view which shows the bumper internal structure which removed the bumper shade of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Embodiment 1. The block diagram which shows the control device of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Embodiment 1, and the device connected to the control device. Travel locus of the reflection travel pattern of the first embodiment Traveling locus of the parallel traveling pattern of the first embodiment Traveling locus of the wall-side traveling pattern of the first embodiment Overall image diagram showing the operation at the time of cleaning the corner of the first embodiment Transition diagram of wheel speed before and after shifting to the turning operation of the first embodiment A flowchart showing the running control of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment. A flowchart showing the running control of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of the second embodiment. An example of the running environment and running method of the second embodiment An example of a running operation after detecting a corner of the second embodiment

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The various components of the present invention do not necessarily have to be individually independent, for example, one component may be composed of a plurality of members, a plurality of components may be composed of a single member, or a certain component. Allows some and some of the other components to overlap each other. Further, the technical idea disclosed in the present specification is not necessarily limited to the present invention, and components can be added, deleted, or replaced within the scope of context or technically not hindered.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front left. The direction in which the autonomous vacuum cleaner S normally travels is forward, the vertical upward direction is upward, and the drive wheels 3 and 4 face each other, with the drive wheel 3 side on the right and the drive wheel 4 side on the left (Fig.). 2). That is, as shown in FIG. 1 and the like, the front-back, up-down, and left-right directions are defined.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of the bumper from which the bumper shade 2c of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner is removed. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a control device of an autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner and a device connected to the control device. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S is an electric device that automatically cleans a predetermined cleaning area (for example, the floor surface Y of a room) while autonomously moving.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S includes a main body case 1, a bumper 2 that covers the outside of the main body case 1, a pair of driving wheels 3 and 4 and training wheels 5 at the bottom, and a rotary brush 6 and a side brush 8 that can clean the floor surface. It is equipped with.

The drive wheels 3 and 4 are wheels for moving the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S forward, backward, and turning by rotating the drive wheels 3 and 4 themselves. The drive wheels 3 and 4 are arranged on both the left and right sides, and are rotationally driven by a wheel unit (not shown) composed of traveling motors 3 m and 4 m (see FIG. 5) and a speed reducer, respectively.

The rotary brush 6 is provided behind the drive wheels 3 and 4 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S. The rotary brush 6 is rotationally driven by a rotary brush motor 6 m (see FIG. 5).

The side brushes 8a and 8b are provided on the front side of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S and outside in the left-right direction, and as shown by the arrow α1 in FIG. Rotate to sweep from the outside to the inside, and collect the dust on the floor surface toward the central rotating brush 6 (see FIG. 2). The side brushes 8a and 8b are rotationally driven by the side brush motors 8am and 8bm (see FIG. 5), respectively. In this embodiment, two side brushes are provided on the left and right, but only one of the right side and the left side may be used.

The rechargeable battery 9 is, for example, a secondary battery that can be reused by charging, and is housed in the battery accommodating portion 1s1. The rechargeable battery 9 is arranged in the left-right direction of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S.

The electric power from the rechargeable battery 9 is supplied to various motors such as the control device 10, the display panel 17, and the traveling motor (3 m, 4 m).

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S is collectively controlled by the control device 10. The control device 10 shown in FIG. 5 is configured by mounting, for example, a microcomputer and peripheral circuits on a substrate. The microcomputer reads the control program stored in the ROM (Read Only Memory), expands it into the RAM (Random Access Memory), and executes it by the CPU (Central Processing Unit) to realize various processes. The peripheral circuit includes an A / D / D / A converter, a drive circuit for various motors, a sensor drive circuit, a charging circuit for the rechargeable battery 9, and the like.

The floor distance measurement sensor 22 is a distance measurement sensor that uses infrared rays to measure the distance to the floor surface, and is installed at four locations (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) on the lower surface of the lower case 1s. There is. By detecting a large step such as a staircase by the distance measuring sensor 22 for the floor surface, it is possible to suppress the fall of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S. ..

The bumper 2 is installed so as to be movable in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction according to a force acting from the outside when colliding with an obstacle such as a wall. The bumper 2 has a hollow substantially cylindrical bumper frame 2a that covers the outer periphery of the main body case 1, a bumper edge 2b provided at the lower end of the bumper 2 on the entire side surface or substantially the entire circumference of the bumper 2, and the bumper 2. It is composed of bumper shades 2c provided from the front surface to the left and right sides. The bumper shade 2c is made of a resin or glass that allows light to pass through.

Such a bumper 2 is urged outward with respect to the main body case 1 by a pair of left and right bumper springs (not shown). The movement of the bumper 2 (that is, contact with an obstacle) is detected by the bumper sensor 19 (see FIG. 5) fixed to the lower case 1s. The bumper sensor 19 is, for example, a photocoupler, and the sensor light is blocked by the retracting of the bumper 2, and a detection signal corresponding to this change is output to the control device 10. The control device 10 controls the drive wheels 3 and 4, retracts the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner S, then changes the traveling direction, and keeps the vacuum cleaner away from obstacles.

The distance measuring sensor 21 is an infrared sensor for detecting the distance to an obstacle. The distance measuring sensor 21 has a light emitting unit (not shown) that emits infrared rays, and a light receiving unit (not shown) that receives reflected light that is reflected by an obstacle and returned. The distance to the obstacle is calculated based on the reflected light detected by the light receiving unit.

A total of seven (21a to 21g) distance measuring sensors 21 are provided from the front surface to the side surface, and are fixed to the bumper frame 2a between the bumper shade 2c and the bumper frame 2a. Of the bumper shade 2c, at least the vicinity of the distance measuring sensor 21 is made of resin or glass that transmits only infrared rays, and ultraviolet rays and visible light enter the light receiving portion to erroneously recognize the distance to an obstacle. Suppress that.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S having such a configuration is mainly used in a room, and automatically cleans the room on behalf of a person. While autonomously traveling, dust and dirt on the floor are sucked by the rotating brush 6 and at the same time sucked by a suction fan, and collected from the suction port 14 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S to the dust collecting case 12. At this time, by rotating the side brushes 8a and 8b inward, dust and dirt outside the mouthpiece portion 14 can be moved to the front of the mouthpiece portion 14, and more dust and dirt can be collected.

The state of autonomous driving is shown in FIGS. 6 to 8. 6 to 8 are views showing the room from above, and the shelf 55 is arranged in the upper right of the room and the sofa 56 is arranged in the substantially center on the left side. These shelves 55 and sofa 56 are obstacles for the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S. Further, the dotted line in the figure shows the traveling locus of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S.

FIG. 6 shows a reflective traveling pattern in which the vehicle cleans while changing the traveling direction when it comes into contact with or approaches a wall or an obstacle. This running pattern is a running pattern suitable for cleaning the entire room. Walls and obstacles are detected by the distance measuring sensor 21 and the bumper sensor 19, and when they come into contact with each other or approach a predetermined distance or less, the traveling motors 3m and 4m are controlled so as to move away from them. Specifically, when a wall or an obstacle is detected, the traveling motors 3m and 4m are stopped, and then the traveling motors 3m and 4m are rotated in opposite directions to rotate the main body on the spot and change the direction. .. The angle at which the direction is changed differs depending on the size of the obstacle and the position from the main body, and is also changed at random. After changing the direction, the vehicle is advanced, and when a wall or an obstacle is detected again, the traveling motors 3m and 4m are similarly controlled to change the direction.

FIG. 7 shows a parallel traveling pattern in which cleaning is performed while moving the traveling direction in parallel when the wall or an obstacle is touched or approached. This running pattern is also a running pattern suitable for cleaning the entire room. When the distance measuring sensor 21 or the bumper sensor 19 detects a wall or an obstacle, the traveling motors 3m and 4m are stopped, and then the traveling motors 3m and 4m are rotated in opposite directions to rotate the main body by about 90 degrees on the spot. .. After that, when the mouthpiece portion 14 is advanced by a distance of about the width of the mouthpiece 14, it is stopped, and the main body is further rotated by about 90 degrees on the spot. By this operation, the movement is moved to a position shifted laterally by the width of the mouthpiece 14 as compared with before the detection of a wall or an obstacle, and the traveling direction is in the opposite direction. From this state, move forward again, and when a wall or obstacle is detected, control the traveling motors 3m and 4m to change the direction, and clean the inside of the room regularly in parallel.

FIG. 8 shows a traveling locus when cleaning the wall side of a room, and shows a wall-side traveling pattern for cleaning along a wall or an obstacle. Run while keeping the side surface of the main body adjacent to the wall or obstacle by about 15 mm. In this traveling pattern, the main body is advanced and the traveling motors 3m and 4m are controlled by the distance measuring sensor 21 so that the distance to the wall or an obstacle becomes constant.

Specifically, the case where the vehicle is traveling clockwise around the wall will be described. First, when the wall is detected by the distance measuring sensor 21 or the bumper sensor 19, the traveling motors 3m and 4m are stopped to position the main body near the wall. After that, the traveling motors 3m and 4m are rotated in opposite directions to rotate the main body substantially on the spot (super-credit turning). At this time, the distance measuring sensor 21a on one side surface side of the main body, for example, the left side surface of the main body is rotated to a state where the wall can be detected, so that the left side surface of the main body is adjacent to the wall. After that, both the traveling motors 3 m and 4 m are rotated in the forward direction to move forward. At this time, the distance measuring sensor 21a is advanced while adjusting the speeds of the traveling motors 3m and 4m so as to have a predetermined value (so that the distance from the wall becomes a predetermined value). Specifically, when the value of the distance measuring sensor 21a is larger than the predetermined value, the main body is away from the wall, so that the traveling motor 3m on the right side is rotated faster than the traveling motor 4m on the left side, and the main body moves forward to the left. Bring it closer to the wall. On the contrary, when the value of the distance measuring sensor 21a is smaller than the predetermined value, the main body is approaching the wall, so that the traveling motor 4m on the left side is rotated faster than the traveling motor 3m on the right side, and the main body is moved forward to the right from the wall. Try to keep it away.

Since the cleaning performance near the wall can be improved when the distance between the main body and the wall is a certain distance, it is preferable to increase the rotation speed of the traveling motor 3 m on the right side in a very short time. Further, when changing the direction of the main body while traveling near the wall, the traveling motor corresponding to the driving wheels 3 and 4 on the side of the left and right traveling motors 3m and 4m that the driver wants to turn to is replaced with the other driving wheels 3 and 4. It may be slower than the corresponding traveling motor. With such control, it is possible to move forward while changing the direction of the main body from time to time to the front right and the front left, and to run along the wall.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner can execute at least one traveling pattern among the reflective traveling pattern or the parallel traveling pattern, and at least two traveling patterns of the wall-side traveling pattern. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner can perform a control mode in which at least two traveling patterns including a wall-side traveling pattern are combined.

Patent Document 1 advances once when the housing (main body) advances along the first wall (side wall) and reaches the corner formed by the first wall and the second wall (front wall). After stopping and reciprocating the housing a plurality of times, the progress is restarted along the second wall.

However, if the front wall is detected in front of the vehicle while moving along the side wall and the main body is stopped in front of the wall, the braking distance varies depending on the material of the floor and the traveling speed. Therefore, the main body may stop at a place away from the front wall or at a place too close to the front wall. Therefore, in order to improve the cleaning performance of the corners in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner, we propose a traveling control that allows the side brushes to reach the corners more reliably.

FIG. 9 is an overall image diagram showing a running operation when cleaning a corner when traveling clockwise near a wall.
First, FIG. 9A shows a state in which the main body is moved by the wall while keeping a certain distance from the side wall 100 (the wall adjacent to the side surface of the main body). At this time, the distance measuring sensor 21a on the side surface is mainly used to move forward while controlling the traveling motors 3m and 4m so as to keep the distance between the side wall 100 and the main body substantially constant. The main body is traveling toward the wall (front wall) 101 in front of the main body (running near the wall). As mentioned above, when traveling by the wall, if the detection value of the distance measuring sensor is monitored and traveled so as to maintain a certain distance from the side wall, the main body swings left and right while moving forward (for example, the front end position of the main body is viewed from above). Moves clockwise and counterclockwise). Let this runout width be Am1.

Further, the threshold distance for starting the operation of swinging forward while swinging left and right is Th1, and the swing width to the left and right is Am2. Further, the arrows in FIG. 9 indicate the traveling locus and traveling direction of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner.

While moving forward, the side wall 100 is monitored by the distance measuring sensor 21a on the side of the main body, and at the same time, the distance to the front wall 101 is measured by the (one or more) distance measuring sensors 21c, 21d, 21e in front of the main body. When the measured distance reaches the threshold distance Th1, the left and right traveling motors 3m and 4m are decelerated or stopped. The distance measuring sensor may be capable of quantitatively detecting the distance to the wall, or may be one that distinguishes whether it is above or below a certain threshold value.

The threshold value Th is preferably set to a value at which the side brush does not reach the front wall 101 and the corners immediately after the traveling motors 3 m and 4 m are decelerated or stopped. In particular, it is preferable that the material of the floor surface is set to a value that cannot be reached even with flooring having a relatively small coefficient of friction and a smooth-finished tatami mat.

FIG. 9B shows a state in which the main body detects that the distance to the front wall 101 is the threshold distance Th1 or less and decelerates or stops the traveling motors 3 m and 4 m. After that, while swinging the main body from side to side, it approaches the front wall 101 (the swing width is Am2, which is slower than the forward speed when running near the wall and larger than the swing width Am1 when running near the wall).

Preferably, at this time, in order to realize agile operation, the time for turning in one direction is made substantially constant. At this time, in order to increase the swing width (turning angle), it is effective to reduce the turning radius. Specifically, assuming that the speed at the ground contact point of the left drive wheel is vL, the speed at the ground contact point of the right drive wheel is vR, and the distance from the drive wheel to the center of the main body is d, the turning radius of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner. R (radius of a circular locus drawn when the vehicle continues to travel without being interfered by obstacles or the like) is represented by the equation 1.

Therefore, in Equation 1, by decreasing (vR + vL) related to the forward speed of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner or increasing | vR-vL | (absolute value) related to the in-situ rotation speed of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner. , The turning radius R can be reduced.

In the first embodiment, the forward speed (vR + vL) / 2 is set to a value smaller than that when traveling near the wall (however, non-zero, that is, excluding R = 0 which is a super-credit turn), while | vR-vL | is set. By increasing it, the turning radius is reduced. By doing so, it is possible to realize "close-up" in which the swing width Am2 to the left and right is large and the forward speed is low. When the difference vR-vL in the rotational speeds of the traveling motors 3m and 4m is positive, it swings to the left drive wheel side, and when it is negative, it swings to the right drive wheel side. , You can shake the body.

In this way, the main body is stopped or decelerated relatively far from the corner, and then the side brush is approached toward the front wall 101 (corner), so that the distance to the corner of the side brush is first from a long distance to a short distance. It changes slowly but continuously toward. Therefore, the corners can be cleaned at least temporarily at the optimum point of the distance of the side brush to the corners. That is, the distance from the tip of the brush of the side brush to the corner is not too far, and it is possible to pass through an appropriate position where dust can be easily scraped out without getting too close, and the side brushes 8a and 8b can be more reliably placed in the corner. Can be delivered to. In addition, since the swing width is large, it is possible to clean the vicinity of the corners widely and firmly.

Further, it is desirable that the rotation speeds of the side brushes 8a and 8b at this time are faster than those during the wall-side traveling or the reflection traveling. As a result, dust can be scraped out more efficiently. When, for example, the brushes divided into three bundles are attached to the brush holders 7a and 7b at substantially equal intervals radially like the side brushes 8a and 8b of this embodiment, the brushes are separated during the forward movement. Due to this, there may be an annular region that the side brush did not pass through (cannot be cleaned). The annular region is reduced, the rotation speed of the side brushes 8a and 8b is increased so that the difference between the outer diameter and the inner diameter of the annular region is within 1 cm, and the unfinished cleaning is suppressed.

FIG. 10 (a) is a diagram showing the forward speed of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner before and after the time t1 when the traveling near the wall (FIG. 9 (a)) shifts to the leaning motion (FIG. 9 (b)). In the figure, the horizontal axis is time t, and the vertical axis is forward speed (vR + vL) / 2. Let t1 be the time at which the operation starts. Slow down the forward speed by the time you start the sneaking motion. In the present embodiment, the forward speed is discontinuously reduced from immediately before the start of the bleeding operation to the time t1, but continuous deceleration may be performed toward the time t1.

FIG. 10B is a diagram showing the rotation speeds of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner before and after the time t1 when the traveling near the wall (FIG. 9A) shifts to the leaning motion (FIG. 9B). In the figure, the horizontal axis is the time t, and the vertical axis is the rotation speed (vR-vL). The rotation speed (vR-vL) is increased with the start of the squeezing operation. Therefore, it is possible to make a large turn to the left and right, and it is possible to take an appropriate distance that makes it easy to scrape out dust.

9 (c) and 9 (d) show how the main body swings left and right while rotating the side brushes 8a and 8b when reaching the corner. Following the squeezing motion, a rocking motion is performed by turning the ground. By this swinging operation, the positions of the side brushes 8a and 8b can be changed so that they can reach the corners more reliably. It is preferable to control the positional relationship between the side brush and the corner when the squeezing motion is completed so that the cleaning efficiency by the side brush is within a suitable distance, but it is not necessarily within that range. Not necessarily. Therefore, the main body is oscillated alternately clockwise and counterclockwise in small steps. As a result, the positional relationship between the side brush and the corner changes, so that cleaning at a suitable distance becomes possible at least in a part of the time zone, and the cleaning range can be expanded.

As a specific movement of the swing, first, the main body is turned to the corner side (left side in FIG. 9) by, for example, about 30 degrees, and then clockwise by, for example, about 60 degrees. Swing about 30 degrees each. This rocking operation is performed for about 10 reciprocations with a cycle of about 0.5 seconds, for a total of about 5 seconds. It is desirable that the side brushes 8a and 8b rotate faster than when traveling near the wall even during the swinging operation, and dust can be scraped out more efficiently.

After the rocking operation, the main body is swung left and right as shown in FIG. 9 (e), and is retracted away from the front wall 101. As a result, the vicinity of the corner can be cleaned and passed again. The retreat distance is not particularly limited, but can be, for example, Th1.

After that, while monitoring at least the distance measuring sensor 21a on the side wall 100 side (left side in the example of FIG. 9) so that the traveling direction is substantially parallel to the front wall 101 as shown in FIG. 9 (f), the main body is placed on the side wall side. Rotate about 90 degrees in the direction toward the front wall side. The side brushes 8a and 8b return to the same speed as the wall running, and continue the wall running with respect to the front wall 101.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a running control of corner cleaning when the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S according to the present embodiment is traveling near a wall.

As described above, when the wall-side traveling is started (step S1), the side wall 100 is monitored by the lateral distance measuring sensor 21, and the traveling motors 3m and 4m are controlled so that the distance to the side wall becomes constant. At the same time, the distance to the front wall 101 is measured by the distance measuring sensor 21 in front.

Then, it is determined whether the measured distance to the front wall has reached the predetermined threshold distance Th1 (step S2), and if it has not reached the predetermined threshold distance Th1, the process returns to step S1 and the running along the wall is continued. do. When the threshold distance is Th1, the rotation speeds of the traveling motors 3 m and 4 m are changed so that the main body is swiveled to the left and right while approaching the front wall or the corner (step S3).

While moving forward, the distance measuring sensor 21 in front is monitored, and it is detected whether the detection distance by the distance measuring sensor 21 is equal to or less than a predetermined value V (step S4). Return to S3 and continue to move forward while turning left and right. When the value becomes V or less, the main body is rotated alternately clockwise and counterclockwise in small steps for a predetermined time (step S5).

After that, by changing the rotation speeds of the traveling motors 3 m and 4 m, the main body is swiveled to the left and right while retreating in a direction away from the front wall or the corner (step S6). When retreating, the distance to the front wall 101 is measured by the distance measuring sensor 21 in front. It is determined whether the measured distance to the front wall has reached the predetermined threshold distance Th1 (step S7), and if it has not reached the predetermined threshold distance Th1, the process returns to the process of step S6 and the retreat is continued. When the threshold distance Th1 is reached, the main body is rotated by about 90 degrees so that the traveling direction is substantially parallel to the front wall 101 (step S8).

Subsequently, the traveling motors 3m and 4m are controlled so that the detection value by the side distance measuring sensor 21 is kept constant while monitoring the distance to the front wall by using the side distance measuring sensor 21. Step S9).

In this embodiment, the operation when traveling clockwise is shown near the wall, but in the case of counterclockwise, the distance measuring sensor 21g on the right side is mainly used to travel near the wall and the rotation direction of the main body is reversed. Then, the right side brush 8b can be used to clean the corners.

Further, regarding the corner cleaning control, it is not always necessary to perform the above-mentioned series of operations. For example, after stopping or decelerating from running near the wall, the vehicle leans forward as shown in FIG. ), And one, two, or three rearwardly separated as shown in FIG. 9 (e) can be performed in any order. After that, it is preferable to change the direction so that the front wall 101 becomes a new side wall as shown in FIG. 9 (f), but it is not necessary. In that case, for example, reflection running can be performed from the front wall 101.

Further, as in the present embodiment, the corner cleaning shown in FIGS. 9 (b), 9 (c) (d), and 9 (e) needs to be performed only while traveling near the wall or traveling in parallel. Instead, the above-mentioned corner cleaning operation may be performed even when it is determined that the corner is during the reflection running. Further, for example, as described later, when cleaning while referring to a map or the like using SLAM (Simultaneusly Localization And Mapping), the corner position is memorized and the above corner cleaning is performed when the corner is reached. You may do it. In this case, since the corners can be recognized without performing the wall-side traveling FIG. 9A, it is not necessary to perform the wall-side traveling.

As described above, in the present embodiment, by squeezing from the vicinity of the corner, the distance from the tip of the brush to the corner is not too long and not too short, and an appropriate distance that makes it easy to scrape out dust can be obtained. The side brushes 8a and 8b can be reliably reached to the corners. Furthermore, it is possible to clean not only the corners but also the walls near the corners. Improves cleaning performance near corners.
<Embodiment 2>
The present embodiment can be the same as the first embodiment except for the following points. In this embodiment, an environment recognition sensor is provided in the main body of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S so that an environmental map can be created and the self-position of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S can be calculated. In the present embodiment, the image sensor is provided in the horizontal direction in the center of the front surface, but a range-finding sensor, a bumper sensor, a laser scanner, or a millimeter-wave sensor may be used. By installing it horizontally in front, it becomes easier to detect walls and corners. When the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner S travels, the control device 10 is used to create a map from changes in the characteristics of the image acquired by the image sensor, and the position of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner S is calculated.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the running control of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S of the present embodiment.

First, when the control device 10 acquires an operation command from the user (step S10), it drives the traveling motors 3m and 4m from the control device 10 and estimates its own position while performing autonomous traveling (step S11). The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S tries to move the room block by block. FIG. 13 is an example of the traveling environment of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S. FIG. 13 shows an example 40 of a traveling block, a charging stand 30 that charges a rechargeable battery 9 when connected to an autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner S, a room wall 50, and furniture 51 such as a sofa or a table provided in the room 50. 52, the corner 60 of the room is drawn. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S starts from the charging stand 30 and travels in the room by a traveling method as shown in the block 40, for example. While traveling, the distance measuring sensor 21 (for example, an infrared sensor) is used to avoid obstacles.

While traveling, the corners are recognized and the positions of the corners are recorded in the memory of the control device 10. As a corner recognition method, an obstacle is detected by using the camera of the distance measuring sensor 21 or the environment recognition sensor 22 while the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner S is traveling, and the width of the detected obstacle is a predetermined threshold value. If it is larger, the obstacle is recognized as a wall. Further, the corner formed by the two intersecting walls is defined as a corner. Further, the feature of the wall or the corner may be detected and recognized by image processing the environmental image of the room acquired by the camera of the environmental recognition sensor 22.

Subsequently, the control device 10 calculates whether or not there is a corner within a predetermined radius centered on the main body (step S12). If there is no corner, the process returns to step S11 and the traveling is continued.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a moving operation of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S after detecting a corner portion. In FIG. 14, the first wall (side wall) 501, the second wall (front wall) 502, the corner 60, the predetermined threshold distance Th2 to the corner, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner S, the movement trajectories Tr1 and Tr2 are drawn. ing. If there is a corner, as illustrated in the movement locus Tr1 in FIG. 14, it rotates on the spot, changes its course to the corner, moves forward, and moves toward the corner (step S13). When moving, the distance to the corner is measured by the distance measuring sensor 21 or the environment recognition sensor 23. It is determined whether the measured distance to the corner is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold distance Th2 (step S14), and if it is not less than or less than the predetermined threshold distance Th2, the process returns to step S13 and the vehicle travels toward the corner. continue. When the threshold distance is Th2, as illustrated in the movement locus Tr2 in FIG. 14, by changing the rotation speeds of the traveling motors 3m and 4m, the main body is swung to the left and right and is squeezed into the corner (step S15). By moving while turning with a large width toward the corner, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S can pass (clean) a large area near the corner, and the cleanability can be improved.

After that, it swings preferably at a corner, and then preferably moves away from the corner to retreat to the threshold distance Th2 (steps S12 to S19). Therefore, it is possible to suppress the unfinished cleaning.

When the distance to the corner reaches the threshold distance Th2, the vehicle returns to the position P (step S20) and continues traveling according to the block 40.

In the present embodiment, since the corners are recognized while traveling, a map of the room is created while traveling using the environment sensor 22. Therefore, when the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S travels in the same room again, the corner portion can be directly recognized from the map, so that the corner portion can be approached diagonally. Further, with respect to the corner cleaning control, the same wall-side running and corner cleaning operations as in the first embodiment may be further executed. Further, it is not always necessary to perform the above series of operations.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the area through which the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner S passes (cleans) can be increased by leaning toward the corner while swinging from the vicinity of the wall to the left and right. Further, by executing the turning or swinging motion in the vicinity of the corner, the positions of the side brushes 8a and 8b can be changed, and the side brush can reach the corner and the wall near the corner more reliably. Improves cleaning performance near corners.

1 Main body case 2 Bumpers 3, 4 Drive wheels 6 Rotating brush 7 Brush holder 8 Side brush 9 Rechargeable battery 10 Control device 11 Suction fan 12 Dust collection case 13 Dust collection filter 14 Suction port 17 Display panel 18 Operation button 19 Bumper sensor 21 Distance measurement Sensor 22 Environment recognition sensor 30 Charging stand S Autonomous driving type vacuum cleaner

Claims (6)

Left drive wheel and
Right drive wheel and
A side brush located in front of the left drive wheel and the right drive wheel,
A left-handed motor that rotates the left drive wheel and
A right-handed motor that rotates the right drive wheel and
It is an autonomous vacuum cleaner equipped with an obstacle detection sensor.
When it recognizes the corner formed by the first wall and the second wall, it swings left and right and performs a squeezing motion toward the corner.
An autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner characterized in that after the above-mentioned squeezing motion, the squeezing motion is performed in a direction away from the recognized corner . The recognition of the corner is performed by recognizing the front wall as the second wall while executing the wall-side running moving along the side wall as the first wall.
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the left-right swing width in the squeezing motion is larger than the swing width in the wall-side running. The recognition of the corner is performed by recognizing the front wall as the second wall while executing the wall-side running moving along the side wall as the first wall.
The autonomous traveling type according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the forward speed in the leaning motion is lower than the forward speed in the wall-side running (however, the forward speed in the leaning motion is non-zero). Vacuum cleaner. Recognizing the corners slows or stops the forward movement,
The autonomous traveling according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the side brush is located at a position where the side brush does not reach the front wall as the second wall immediately after the deceleration or stop and before the leaning operation. Mold vacuum cleaner. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein after the squeezing operation, a substantially super-credit turn is performed and the vacuum cleaner moves along the second wall. The recognition of the corner is performed by referring to the environmental map data or the detection data of the camera, the image sensor, the laser or the millimeter wave sensor.
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum cleaner approaches the corner diagonally.

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